California wildfire smoke spreads to New York, 3,000 miles away

Houston’s Sprawl May Have Slowed Down Hurricane Harvey—and Made It Worse

In the months after Hurricane Harvey pummeled East Texas, Houston asked itself a hard question: How much blame does the city’s rapid growth deserve for the calamity?

As storms leave patterns of damage that bear little resemblance to FEMA’s flood plain maps, it’s clear that the topology of cities has become its own hydroscape, directing and displacing stormwater according to the layout of buildings, roads, parking lots, and storm drains. In Houston, the country’s fastest-growing city over the past few decades, rivers appear to be rising along with development as grasslands give way to pavement. That climate change is sending bigger, more frequent rainstorms is not helping. Even after hurricanes, about two in three residential flood-insurance claims are inland—the product of freshwater flooding…

California wildfire smoke spreads to New York, 3,000 miles away

Gary Hershorn / Getty Images

The U.S. East Coast has been provided a firsthand reminder of the deadly California wildfires after smoke swept across the country and caused a haze to envelop the eastern seaboard, including Washington, D.C. and New York City.

Hazy skies were reported in several places on the East Coast from smoke wafting from 3,000 miles farther west, where wildfires in California have killed more than 80 people and razed more than 15,000 homes and other structures. An unusually dense fog shrouded the top of New York City skyscrapers and the sunset was particularly intense due to the smoke particles in the air. “Wow. I knew tonight’s sunset over New York City seemed different, and I should’ve realized,” tweeted Kathryn Prociv, a meteorologist on the Today Show. “Wildfire smoke is in the air, all the way from California.”

Donald Trump visited the areas affected last weekend and created controversy by refusing to acknowledge climate change as a major factor, getting the name of the incinerated town of Paradise wrong, once again blaming forest management, and arguing for leaf-raking as a key factor in prevention…

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featuered images

The global air traffic network may be more vulnerable to natural disasters than you realize.

Recent volcanic activity reminds us of the 2010 disaster. The volcano in southern Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull glacier sends ash into the air just prior to sunset ON Friday, April 16, 2010. Thick drifts of volcanic ash blanketed parts of rural Iceland on Friday as a vast, invisible plume of grit drifted over Europe, emptying the skies of planes and sending hundreds of thousands in search of hotel rooms, train tickets or rental cars. (AP Photo/Brynjar Gauti) #

A section of Lake Oroville is seen nearly dry on August 19, 2014 in Oroville, California. As the severe drought in California continues for a third straight year, water levels in the State’s lakes and reservoirs are reaching historic lows. Lake Oroville is currently at 32 percent of its total 3,537,577 acre feet. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

this earthquake is believed to be the biggest in the region in 25 years – had destroyed four mobile homes and made 16 buildings “uninhabitable”,

The Story of Cyclone Tracy by Sophie Cunningham.

Forty homes appeared to have been completely submerged in the mudslide- only one building was left above ground level Photo: Getty

Motorists try to move their cars Thursday after being trapped on the flooded southbound Lodge near Dexter after a water main broke near the freeway about 2:30 p.m. Water from a 42-inch main poured down a freeway ramp and rose nearly 4 feet, causing backups. / Photos by William Archie/Detroit Free Press. Source: http://www.freep.com/article/20120601/NEWS01/206010386/Lodge-reopens-after-flooding-halts-traffic-near-water-main-break

TS Iselle

A solar flare bursts off the left limb of the sun in this image

even false tsunami warning can cause death toll in community…

Great guide for all pets owners; RSPCA Queensland. Source: http://www.rspcaqld.org.au/Information/AnimalCareTips/SummerTips/CyclonePreparedness